tell stories of lives stitched together with love and God’s unending grace.

Once a week, Elsa Brantenberg hosts the Saint Charles Quilting Circle at her farmhouse on the outskirts of the riverside town of St. Charles, Missouri. The ladies who gather there have all experienced heartache related to the intense hardships of the Civil War, and together, they are facing their painful circumstances with friendship and prayer. Can the tattered pieces of their hearts be stitched together by God’s grace?

Dandelions on the Wind
When Maren Jensen took a job on Elsa Brantenberg’s St. Charles, Missouri farm, she never expected to call the place her home. As she grows to love Mrs. Brantenberg and her granddaughter, Gabi, Maren is transformed from a lonely mail-order bride-without-a-groom to a beloved member of the Brantenberg household. But when Gabi’s father, Rutherford “Wooly” Wainwright, returns to the farm unexpectedly, everything changes for Maren, and she feels compelled to find another job. Are her choices in obedience to God, or is she running from His plan?

Bending Toward the Sun
Dedicated to her education and to helping her father in his general store, Emilie Heinrich is convinced she doesn't have time for love. But when a childhood friend returns to St. Charles, Missouri, after serving in the Civil War, his smile and charm captures Emilie’s eye and her heart. Will she be forced to choose between honoring her father and a future with a husband and family of her own?

Ripples Along the Shore
Change is brewing in St. Charles. A group of brave souls are preparing to head west on the Boone's Lick Wagon Train, led by the mysterious and handsome Garrett Cowlishaw, who served as a Confederate soldier in the war that killed Caroline’s husband. Despite her dislike for him, Caroline is tempted to join the wagon train and start fresh somewhere new, but when Mr. Cowlishaw forbids her—a single woman—to travel with them, will one man’s prejudice destroy Caroline’s hope for a new future? Or will the ripples of God’s love bring the answer she needs?

Married forty-one years to her leading man, Mona from Arizona lives in
the Southwest where trees have arms instead of branches and salsa is a
staple. When Mona Hodgson isn't writing or speaking, she's playing Wii
games with her Arizona grandson, spending time with her mom, picnicking,
texting her sisters, or chatting on Skype with her grandchildren in
Africa.

Mona Hodgson is the author of nearly 40 books,
historical novels for adults and children's books, including her popular
Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek Series, The Quilted Heart novellas,
and upcoming Hearts Seeking Home Series. Her children's books include
bestseller, Bedtime in the Southwest, six desert and princess Zonderkidz
I Can Read books, Real Girls of the Bible: A 31-Day Devotional, and her
six I Wonder books. Mona's writing credits also include several hundred
articles, poems and short stories, which have appeared in 50 different
publications. Mona is a speaker for women's groups, Christian women's
retreats, book clubs and reading groups, schools, and conferences for
writers and librarians.

MY VIEW

SETTING: SMALL TOWN IN MISSOURI

The author wrote three wonderful stories that blended together perfectly. The three stories are also marketed as single but being able to read the three stories in one continuous read was lovely. Ms. Hodgson moved the story from one to another, never skipping a beat. The words flowed smoothly as did the plots. You got to know the women of the stories and their own personalities. After you read the first story, the second one blends in from the first and same true for the third.

We are introduced to Mauren, Emile, and Caroline who plan to go on a great adventure. Westward Ho! with the Boone's Lick Wagon Train led by Garrett Cowlishaw, This may lead to many rough moments as Garret was a Confederate soldier that killed Caroline's husband. He told the adventurers that Caroline couldn't go since she was a single woman.Caroline is a widow and her eyes only roam to one man. I believe you call that love? Will God intervene and show Garret and Caroline the way? Then we have Mauren and Emile who are both married. Don't forget Anna. She will bring a surprise to the read.?

This was a trio of ales that Ms. Hodgson wrote that were very hart warming.You have the sorrow of the Confederate War and its aftermath. Families lost, farms and acreage lost or left in ruins. Husbands, fathers, and sons that some didn't come back. The ones that did had a hard time with the nightmares, let alone the rebuilding and learning to live a half ways normal life again.

Will everyone adventure westward with the wagon train? Will Gabby's papa and his intended go and leave his mother-in-law.? Will Caroline go on the wagon train or will Garret forbid her?
I simply loved the way Ms. Hodgson wrote one tale into another so fluidly and smoothly. She adds the belief of God and each of the characters relationship with him

I want to read about the adventures of the wagon train, who went, what kind of situations happened. I just want to know it all. I loved the characters. They weren't dull be no means. They were real characters.

Please don't pass this book up. You get three stories in one book that are actually one story. Pick up a copy and learn about the small town of Missouri and the people who live there. Maybe you'll get the bug to go on the wagon train and go Westward Ho!

I was given a complimentary copy of THE QUILTED HEART OMNIBUS from the author Mona Hodgson and waterbrookmultnomah Blogging For Books Program for my own opinion. No other compensation took place.